January 2019 – July 2022
A Lab team with “eagle eyes for quality and big collaborative hearts” has reached the halfway point in making advanced superconducting cables for new focusing magnets that are key to the High-Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/06/08/cabling-hadron-collider-halfway-mark/
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at the Lab formally unveiled the first phase of its next-generation supercomputer, Perlmutter, Thursday. Named in honor of Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Saul Perlmutter, it will play a key role in advancing scientific research. https://www.nersc.gov/news-publications/nersc-news/nersc-center-news/2021/berkeley-lab-deploys-next-generation-supercomputer-perlmutter-bolstering-u-s-scientific-research/
The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has named Susan Hubbard, Associate Lab Director for the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area, as an appointee to their Board of Directors. CCST’s mission is to respond to state leaders who request independent assessments of public policy issues. https://ccst.us/five-distinguished-leaders-in-science-engineering-policy-and-philanthropy-appointed-to-ccst-board-of-directors/
A research team led by Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry has developed a lithium-selective polymer membrane that could allow high-voltage battery cells to operate at higher power and more efficiently, important factors for electric vehicles and aircraft. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/04/07/selective-membranes-for-batteries/
Lab physicist Jean-Luc Vey is featured in a recent “ASCR Discovery” story on the open-source supercomputer code called WarpX, which simulates laser-made plasmas and presents a path for shrinking particle accelerators. The DOE Office of Science produces the publication. https://ascr-discovery.org/2021/03/warp-drive/
Mary Maxon, ALD for Biosciences, co-wrote a cover story for “The Environmental Forum,” The Environmental Law Institute’s policy magazine. In the article, Maxon provides an overview of the bioeconomy, including the Joint BioEnergy Institute’s development of a biopesticide with antifungal properties. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2021/03/12/mary-maxon-writes-about-bioengineering-for-the-future/
Margaret Torn of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area speaks about the connections between climate change and more frequent wildfires as part of a broader story NBC Bay Area is developing on challenges facing the region as the result of climate change. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/climate-in-crisis/climate-change-hotspots/climate-hotspot-point-reyes/2453052/
At companies like Google, the incentive to install batteries for backup power at data centers is high. Batteries could also help balance the electric grid, taking and dispatching power when needed, as ETA’s Sarah Smith recently explained in an interview with “Grist.” https://grist.org/energy/googles-data-centers-are-energy-hogs-could-they-help-power-the-grid/
Berkeley Lab and its people are frequently mentioned in the news. Read about your news-making colleagues in this select list of Lab media coverage curated by Strategic Communications. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MGnE0tkPMuZa4p844KcZ3ih4fg1TExFCwwtYX1iftDA/edit#gid=1074678578
Watch live as two current and one former Berkeley Lab scientists receive the Lawrence Award, one of the DOE’s highest honors. Susannah Tringe, Dan Kasen, and M. Zahid Hasan will be honored along with five fellow scientists. The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. on Jan. 19. https://science.osti.gov/lawrence/Ceremony